Tournament Guide: Syracuse résumé

Originally Published: March 14, 2004
By By Tom Durso | Bracketologist

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Syracuse's complete Bracketology chart
Take a look inside the data used by the tournament selection committee in seeding the bracket.

Team Data
Points Per Game
Points Allowed
Scoring Margin 		73.6 ppg
67.2 ppg
+6.4 		FG pct.
FG allowed
3-PT pct.
3-PT allowed
3PT ratio (of FG) FT pct.
FT totals 		.464
.399
.310
.290
.155
.637
363/359 		Reb. Margin
TO Margin
Asst:TO ratio
Asst:FG ratio 		+1.7 rpg
-1.0 tpg
1.20
.553


Individual Numbers
Starters
Pos. Player Min. Basics Good Bad Notes
1

2

3

4

5 		Gerry McNamara
(6-2, 172, SO)
Josh Pace
(6-6, 190, JR)
Demetris Nichols
(6-8, 205, FR)
Hakim Warrick (6-8, 185, JR)
Craig Forth
(7-00, 255, JR) 		36.1

33.3

15.6

37.1

23.3 		16.3 ppg, 3.9 apg

9.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg

3.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg

19.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg

5.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg 		.368 3PT

.508 FG

16 blks.

.519 FG

2.2 bpg 		.375 FG

.415 FT

.327 FG

.686 FT

0.5 a/to 		Nice transition from "2" to "1" midway.
Wingman can pass and shoot from med. range.
More than half his shots are 3s.
Dynamic and dominant post player.
Three-year starter is a shot-blocking presence.
Rotation
Pos. Player Min. Basics Good Bad Notes
C

G 		Jeremy McNeil
(6-8, 257, SR)
Louie McCroskey
(6-5, 187, FR) 		12.7

14.4 		3.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg

4.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg 		.756 FG

1.0 apg 		.520 FT

.412 FT 		Is among Orange's career leaders in blocks.
So-so as backup point man.


Season notes
High Point Warrick scored his 1,000th career point in the Orangemen's 81-70 win over Notre Dame, the team's 13th straight victory.
Low Point Personal problems ended talented point guard Billy Edelin's season in early February.
Most Revealing Moment The defending NCAA champs closed strong, ending the regular season with five straight wins, including an 11-point victory over UConn in finale.
Did You Know? Wins over Connecticut and Pitt were 'Cuse's first back-to-back, regular-season victories over Top 10 opponents in 10 seasons.


Scouting report
Offensive Preference A balanced attack, with McNamara sniping from long range and Warrick cleaning up down low.
Defensive Philosophy Prevent high-percentage shots. Syracuse out-blocked opponents by more than 100 this season, and held 3-point shooters to under 30 percent.
Secret Strength The Orangemen put themselves in position to take easy shots, and they shoot the ball extremely well.
Achilles Heel Edelin's departure from the team severely weakened 'Cuse in the backcourt.
Will Lose When ... The Orange are limited offensively. If they don't bring their "A" game on defense every night, it'll be tough going.
Famous Last Words Syracuse played well down the stretch, but you have to wonder when some of the rubber bands holding it together will start to snap.


Tournament History (1985-2003) Overall NCAA History
NCAA appearances: 16 (of 19)
Seed average: 4.13
Highest seed No. 2 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991)
Lowest seed: No. 8 (1999)
Biggest upset: 2003 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma, Texas
Most upsetting: 1991 vs. No. 15 Richmond
Bracketology score: 1.02 		NCAA appearances: 28
All-time record: 46-28 (.621)
Best finish: 2003, national champions
Coach's NCAA record: Jim Boeheim (38-21, .644)


Quad comparison
Denver
            Inside N-C Luna     vs.  vs.  Bad Cls Lst   
Team      Sd  RPI  RPI RPI SOS 1-25 26-50  L   L  10   B-Scr OffQ  DefQ   ASM
Maryland   4   23   9   18  4   7-9  0-0   0   1  7-3  1.09   8.0   2.8  10.8
UTEP      13   46  52   53 107  0-0  1-3   0   0  7-3  1.33  10.4   1.2  11.6
BYU       12   31  31   43  35  1-1  1-3   3   4  9-1  0.92   7.2   4.7  11.9
Syracuse   5   15  15   15  18  3-4  3-3   0   1  7-3  1.02   6.1   3.0   9.1
Quad Comparison Key
InsideRPI Insider's replication of the Ratings Percentage Index.
N-C RPI RPI in non-conference games only.
LunaRPI Joe Lunardi's "predictive" RPI.
SOS Strenth of Schedule (all games).
1-25 Record vs. 1-25 RPI teams.
26-50 Record vs. 26-50 RPI teams.
Bad Loss Losses to teams ranked below 150 in the RPI.
Close Loss Losses by 3 points or less or in overtime.
Last 10 Record in Last 10 games before tourney.
B-Score Bracketology Scores measure whether a team more often "exceeds" its seed or "falls short" of expectation (average B-Score is 1.00).
OffQ Offensive Quotient (average points per game by which a team exceeds/falls below the aggregate defense of its opponents).
DefQ Defensive Quotient (average points per game allowed below/above the aggregate offense of its opponents).
ASM Adjusted Scoring Margin (OffQ+DefQ) has accurately predicted 10 of the last 16 Final Four participants).

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